PRESSURE 1.0

A public space project and an exhibition in Marseille by David Mesguich /

ABOUT

The story of "pressure" - it's the story of people who are on the fence, inbetween worlds, those who are both on the inside and on the outside.

My inspiration came from two sources: a family history that steeped me in a violent, carceral universe during my youth and more than 10 years of trespassing with graffiti.

"Pressure" is a non-profit project, it was not made to be sold. As with my previous public space sculpture,

"LUZ 1.0", it was created as a donation to the city.

THE ACTION

After being exhibited a week in "la friche belle de Mai" with the support of Backside Gallery, it was time to take the sculpture to the streets to see what would happen.

The place chosen was the main elevated freeway known to be the entrance of Marseille, a non-place where the sculpture could look in the direction of Africa and face the whole city at the same time.

Because of the unauthorized aspect, the installation was done in a 5 minute action to minimize risk of being arrested for trespassing & illegal dumping, “a backjump” as we call it.

The next day the team returned to see what had happened and it was great to see that “Pressure” had not been moved. The sculpture stayed there 2 weeks without any trouble. One night there was a bad storm in Marseille and the sculpture fell to the ground and was seriously damaged.

We thought the installation was finished, but when we came back the next day, we were surprised to see that some unknown hero had made it stand up again! The storm lasted a week, everyday a new part of it was broken until nothing remained.